That evening, the banquet was held in the family manor rather than the palace. Cass came down dressed in the borrowed robes Telis had provided. They were a gorgeous sapphire blue, with voluminous sleeves and embroidered with silver stitching and glass beads swirling like gusts of wind up and around the body. It came with a large broach depicting the Lord of the Deep snarling in an almost opaque blue-black glass.

  Against the common sense of Earth, she carried her staff. That was just one of those things they did here.

  The dining hall was a large room, too large for anything but a formal dinner. There was an emptiness to the space that the long table running from one end of the room to the other could never fill.

  The ceiling was stained glass, like the palace’s had been, though the scene above was a swirling cloud of lightning and stars rather than the display of dragons of the palace. The light filtering through the excess of grey glass cast a gloomy light over the room. The magic sconces along the wall did little to mitigate it, their light coming off in a green-yellow that only added to the sickly atmosphere.

  At the head of the table, a tall-backed chair bigger than the rest presided over the room. The madam of the house was already seated to the chair’s right.

  She was no less of an imposing woman in her dining room than she’d been in her drawing room the other night. Tonight, she wore a robe of midnight purple, only a few shades darker than her hair. A gold spider clip held her hair in a twirling bun while a web of gold chain was woven into her locks. A slender wand rested beside her fork and knife on the table.

  Cass froze in the doorway. Had she come too early? Telis had said to come down when she was done dressing and the servant girl Cass had ambushed for directions hadn’t suggested dinner was still unready.

  But then, where was Alyx?

  “Good evening,” Cass said with an awkward wave.

  The madam didn’t quite scowl. “Good evening.”

  She said nothing more, her attention immediately snapping away from Cass to pointedly inspecting the far wall.

  Cass hung in place. The room was unmistakably unwelcoming. It wasn’t so much that Cass specifically was unwanted, so much as all were equally undesired.

  This wasn’t a place where one could simply sit down and eat. There were rules. She could feel it in her bones.

  But she would not divine those rules by loitering in the doorway. She forced herself to take a step forward despite the foreboding. She’d just sit opposite the madam and let that be the end of it. Someone could yell at her if she were wrong.

  Footsteps behind her filled Cass with relief. Alyx would know what the rules here were. She turned, only to find it was not Alyx but Kohen and Tiador approaching.

  They were dressed for dinner in fine silken tunics embroidered with twisting patterns in gold and silver thread, respectively, and armed like any proper dinner guest of this world, swords swinging from hips.

  A large glass lion broach was pinned over Kohen’s breast, the figure glistening in the ghastly lighting. A snake made of alternating glass and silver segments hung over Tiador’s shoulders, the serpentine head pinned open in a perpetual hiss on his right.

  Vaisom Noble (Lvl 30)

  Vaisom Noble (Lvl 28)

  [The son of a prominent noble of the duchy of Vaisom. He exudes the expectation of authority, if not authority itself.]

  Cass’s disappointment slipped out. “Oh. It’s you.”

  Kohen scowled. “What does that mean?”

  Cass shook her head, quickly backpedaling her impulsive words. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be back already.”

  Then again, there wasn’t a lot of catacomb between where they’d seen him on the eighth floor and the goddess’s blessing on the ninth. He and his team had probably been behind them the whole way up. If they were waylaid at all, it would have been to fight more golems for Pellen. Given the slow pace at which she and Alyx had returned, it was possible he’d even beaten Cass and Alyx back.

  “Looking down on me already?” he scoffed.

  Cass shrugged. “Did Pellen get the concept she wanted?”

  “The mage you stole? How should I know?”

  “You hunted a golem or two for her, right?” Cass pressed. What if he hadn’t because he considered their separation a breach of their contract?

  “We slayed the golems she wanted. She got the concept gems. For all I know, she sold them after.”

  Cass breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t her business, but she liked Pellen.

  Kohen pushed around Cass and sat himself down opposite his mother in a huff.

  “Pleasure to meet you again, Mage Yuan,” Tiador said, lingering beside her and the door another moment, his lime eyes—unpleasantly slitted like a snake—evaluating her as they moved up and down her body. “I must say, you were most impressive out there.”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  This was likely nothing but empty flattery. Their parties had only fought briefly, during which he should have been focused on his immediate opponents and which ended with her and Pellen falling into a chasm, not to be seen by him until things were well and truly over. But empty flattery warranted polite acknowledgment. “Thank you.”

  “May I ask what you are doing after this?”

  Cass raised an eyebrow. “After dinner?”

  “After the Festival.”

  “I have business in the city.” What that business was was none of his.

  “And after that?” he pressed.

  “That depends on how my business goes,” Cass said. “But I expect to still be busy.”

  “Fair enough.” He chuckled, but his good-natured tone failed to reach his lime-colored eyes. “Let’s sit. I’d love to hear more about your business.” He held his hand out to Cass. A wave of comfort floated over her. Something about his arm was appealing. A safe harbor in this unfriendly room.

  Cass clicked her tongue and stepped away from him.

  Status Effect (Charismatic Charm) Ignored.

  “I would appreciate if you didn’t try that again anywhere near me,” Cass said. These noble brats. More manipulation skills? How often did he use that to lure women off with him?

  His eyebrows went up. “Try what?”

  “Please, don’t play dumb.” Cass kept her voice steady. Polite. Though, her ‘please’ still came out as a sharp barb.

  “I assure you, I don’t know how I might have offended—” His words poured over her, warm like lemonade left out in the sun the entire afternoon—unpleasant and entirely unnatural.

  Status Effect (Charismatic Charm) Ignored.

  “That!” Cass snapped. “That skill, stop it.” Just because it didn’t affect her didn’t make it any more pleasant.

  Tiador stared at her. The entire room was staring.

  Cass bit her lip. Did none of them see the problem? Well, it was probably too much to hope Kohen would find something wrong with using skills like this, given he’d used one on her already. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise his mother shared that opinion. If this were the norm, she’d just have to spell it out for them then. “Where I am from, social skills are very rude.”

  Tiador raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. I’d love to hear more about that. I’m surprised you even noticed I had a social skill active. What is your Perception?”

  “My understanding is that it is rude to ask about stats here.” Cass narrowed her eyes.

  Tiador laughed. There was something more genuine about that one, though, for all she knew, he had switched to an acting skill instead. “True. True. My apologies, my lady. It’s just been a long time since someone my age called me out on things like this. Please excuse my curiosity.”

  “Don’t do it again, and sure,” Cass said, still moving no closer to him.

  “Yes, of course. I’ll do my best. I’m afraid I use some of these skills habitually. But I’ll hold back as much as I’m able.” He retracted his hand and gestured at the table. “Come, let’s sit.”

  He seated himself beside Kohen, leaving Cass the unenviable choice between sitting beside him or Alyx’s stepmother.

  Thankfully, that was the moment Alyx entered. She was in crimson robes, a swirling abstract pattern climbing up the fabric reminiscent of Asian dragons. A bird mask of black glass was pinned to her red hair.

  “Kohen, you’re back already,” Alyx said as she glided into the seat beside the madam.

  Cass hurried to sit next to her.

  “Yes. Is everyone going to act surprised?” He scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “People are going to be surprised by surprising events.” Alyx shrugged. “How fast did you have to walk to get to the manor in time for dinner?”

  “I’ll have you know I got home over two hours ago,” he said. “From what I gather, I was only an hour after you, and that was with several stops on the way back up.”

  Alyx shrugged. “Good for you. I got all my business in the Catacombs done on the way down.”

  He glared but bit his tongue.

  Tiador smiled like a snake from his side, picking up the conversation as Kohen refused to continue it. “Lady Alyx, congratulations again on your accomplishments. You are a blessing to your house.”

  Alyx raised an eyebrow at him. “Thank you.”

  The madam pointedly ignored him.

  “I would love to hear—” He stopped as the dining room’s doors opened again.

  A boy stood in the entry. He had a long gash along the left side of his face, but it was already scabbed over.

  Vaisom Noble (Lvl 25)

  “Ahryn?” Kohen shot up from the table, hurrying to Ahryn’s side. “You’re injured?”

  Ahryn smiled and nodded. “I heard we were having dinner?”

  “How did you get hurt?” Kohen’s hands hovered between them, poised to brush away the younger boy’s wounds but held back by the knowledge his hands could do nothing for the scabs. “You went into the Catacombs? Without me?”

  Ahryn looked down, nodding.

  Kohen’s mouth hung open like he had more questions. He shook his head. “When did you get back?”

  “Just now,” the boy said.

  “Now?” Alyx asked.

  Ahryn nodded. “Someone at the arena said we were celebrating Alyx’s major blessing and that if I hurried, I might make it in time. It looks like I’m not late?”

  He wasn’t dressed for dinner. He still wore the leathers of his armor, and his tunic was the quilted gambeson worn under metal protection. The beadwork on the fabric was not ornamental but intended to increase the outfit’s defensive properties. He wore no mask or other mark of past conquests.

  Hesitantly, Ahryn stepped into the room past his brother. His eyes gravitated to his mother. His voice trembling, he said, “I won, mom.”

  A system window floated above his head as he displayed his blessing for all to see.

  Alacrity’s Blessing

  [You have proven yourself worthy of She of Stunning Brilliance and Striking Inspiration’s attention. She has granted you the right to bind with her chosen people: the dragons. Additionally, she has granted you the following boons:

  + 9% Ala

  + 3% Dex

  + 3% Wll

  + 3% Res]

  The madam gasped. “Oh, my baby boy. Good job. Come sit down. Let’s show your father when he arrives. This will be so useful to your brother.”

  Ahryn’s shining face darkened at that last sentence, but he nodded and sat himself opposite Cass.

  Kohen’s expression darkened further. He crossed his arms over his chest and followed Ahryn back to the table, slumping into his chair. “I don’t need his help. I succeeded as well.”

  “I know, dear,” Litya said, patting his hand on the table.

  Her words did nothing for his expression.

  “You—” Kohen started to say as the doors opened yet again.

  A tall man strode through. Everyone at the table stood. Cass scurried to follow suit.

  He was a stern-looking man. Like a person carved from stone rather than flesh. All sharp edges like broken obsidian.

  His eyes cut across the room, dissecting each person before him as he walked to the large, unoccupied chair at the other.

  Thaycer Delim Veldor, the Delim branch patriarch.